Vampire Greek
by DarianTerrell
Summary: A Vampire gains a thirst for the blood of the gods after attacking a daughter of Zeus. Now, with a target on his back and a taste for Greeks, he marches his way through Greek territory fighting off Gods and monsters to settle the score with Zeus.
1. Chapter 1

When Roman was little, his mom always lectured him about finding the right girl. He was too busy being an outcast to actually need her advice, but today, he thought he found her. It was late January, the sky was still bleak and the air was still cold, but nothing can stop a human from having fun. He went to the Pixies club on Cupertin Drive late that night, looking for something to drink.

Pixies wasn't anything special on the outside, but the inside was amazing. There was a huge bar to the left side of the club, which Roman frequently visited. The dance floor moved and spun around slowly, so people were never standing in one corner all night. It never moved fast enough to cause motion sickness either. It was flush with color, depending on the mood, song, or festivity. The only time it was ever lit with plain old white lights was when police did raids and searches.

The type of crowd at this club wasn't all that special though. Mostly normal people, which disappointed and surprised Roman because he expected there to be lots of vampires to go after easy bait. Young girls and guys, drunk out of their minds, eager to go home with whoever, and to do what with whatever. It was a freak's paradise, and if Roman had more motivation, he'd have a ball.

Roman never came to these clubs for fun, though the liquor they served did get to him now and then. He sat at the bar that night, wondering which of these humans were worth his time when suddenly, a tall girl appeared out of thin air. he looked around, every other human acted oblivious like she didn't just poof in out of thin air. She wasn't a ghost, a fairy, or a witch. Roman had dealt with all of those before. This girl was an entirely different being, and he was determined to find out more about her. His eyes followed her with laserlike focus, watching from head to toe how she moved, the way she walked, and where she was walking.

She got stopped by an older guy, who looked like he was pushing his forties. Roman finished off the rest of his drink in a big gulp and lumbered in their direction.

"Yea, this my first time being out here, in this type of scene." The man continued, though he noticed Roman walking forward with a tipsy smile on his face, eyes slightly unfocused.

Roman tapped the girl on her shoulder and she spun around, with a look of shock on her face. He was about o say something funny but the worried look she had stopped him in his tracks. _What's wrong with her?_ he wondered. _It can't be obvious what I am. She must think we're both going to hurt her or something_

"Watch out buddy," said the older guy, slapping his hand down on Roman's shoulder. "You've had one too many. You should go sit down."

Roman stared at the man's hand on his shoulder, then turn back and glared at him. Roman was thinner, less than half the size of the big old guy, but he didn't flinch one bit. "I didn't get up from my seat to talk to a fat guy with a potbelly, and I'm sure she didn't come here for an old ass man. I think _you're_ the one that needs to sit down."

He took his hand off Roman and got up in close to his face.

"Anything else you wanna say to me?" He said menacingly.

Roman smiled to himself and looked over at the girl.

"So you're not gonna break this up?"

She shook her head and backed up a few steps.

"This is exactly why girls look for older guys. This little punk expected you to save his ass. What type of guy does that? You don't want to mess with me boy, I'm a retired cop. I've handled plenty of criminals and kids who thought they were tough, just like you."

The older guy tried to shove him aside, but Roman wouldn't budge. Roman grabbed the man's arm and sank his nails in deep. The older guy dropped to his knees in pain and howled until Roman said something under his breath. The man went silent, and his eyes turned red until blood dripped like tears from his eyes.

"What's your name, old man?"

There was no fear or anger in the old man's eyes. Every emotion that he could have felt, that he should have felt, was gone. His eyes remained locked on Roman's and Roman's were locked on his.

"Chris Carver," said Chris, the blood started to drip off his chin. The music skirted to a stop and the people at the bar backed away. The drunk party goers stopped dancing. Some complained about the music. The rest pulled out their phones to record the fight.

"Hey! You two! Cut that out or get out!" The security guard was bulldozing people, pushing his way toward Roman, Chris and the girl.

Roman paid him no attention. The club was nearly silent besides the hushed whispers from people watching.

"Pick yourself up." Roman mumbled under his breath. "You're going to go to the bathroom, clean yourself up, then walk out of here, and get hit by a car. Got it?"

Chris nodded, causing more blood to drip off his chin. He stood up, dusted off his pants, and made his way to the restroom, ignoring the people asking if he was okay.

Roman started to walk back towards the bar, but the security guard stopped him.

"You need to go." He said, blocking Roman's path.

"Someone go check on the other guy and make sure he's alright."

Roman looked at the blood on his hand and bit his lip. His eyes started to twitch and his forehead beaded with sweat.

"Fine. I'll go. Just let me get my drink first."

The bodyguard pointed to the door and stepped even closer.

"You've had enough to drink. You're going back to the bar. Get out."

Roman's breathing quickened and he smiled slightly, almost enough to show his fangs.

"I wasn't talking about alcohol," He said, grabbing the bodyguard's shirt and lifting him up off the ground.

Before the bodyguard could become a snack, the girl grabbed Roman's arm and pulled him back.

"Let him go. Get out of here." She said sternly.

Roman set him down and laughed.

"So now you want to be the voice of reason? Where were you when I told Chris to get himself manslaughtered?"

"I was trying to figure out what you are," She spoke quietly so only I could hear. "Now I know. You need to go."

The bodyguard took this opportunity to take a shot. He gave Roman and mean right hook, swinging so hard he almost lost his balance. Roman's head turned, but he didn't move a muscle

Right before Roman was going to retaliate, she pulled his arm and his attention turned towards her again, fangs bared.

"You can't stop me from killing him. Let go of me!"

He yanked his arm free of her grasp, and turned around to see the bodyguard shaking and twitching, his neck snapping and bending at odd angles. Growing and screaming, he took two steps back and turned around.

 _What the hell?_ Roman thought, watching in shock.

The bodyguard's body seemed to expand, his torso getting bigger, his shirt ripping revealing a very hairy back underneath.

He kept growing and growing, and if the girl hadn't snapped him out of it he wouldn't have noticed the entire crowd was transforming too.

"Idiot! I'm trying to save you from them!" She pulled his ear and motioned towards the others that had begun to surround them. They were shapeshifting into all sorts of hideous creatures, snake-like people, gigantic troll looking monsters, and canine looking beasts that resembled werewolves, but they couldn't be. Roman would have smelled them.

"What type of magic crap did you do?" He demanded, looking it her.

"Me? What? Are you insane?! They've been here the whole ti-"

"FINALLY!" A deep voice boomed, quieting the sound of shapeshifting creatures. Roman turned around and was staring face to face with the ass of a enormous black stallion. Raising his gaze slightly upward, Roman saw that instead of a horse's neck and head, it was the upper body of the bodyguard he had just planned on killing, now three times the size he was a minute ago.

"Maintaining a human form is _so_ exhausting."

He looked over his shoulder to stare at Roman, his eyes now twinkling with vengeance.

"It's much better to deal with flies at full strength."

His upper half leaned forward, and before Roman could process what was happening he was kicked in the chest with both of the bodyguard's hind legs, sending him flying not just through the crowd, but through the wall, out onto the street in the fraction of a second.

The crowd of monsters looked at the girl, but she quietly turned and ran to help the value vampire.

 _Great._ She thought to herself, running towards the door and ignoring the gaping hole the vampire exited out of.

 _Finding someone different shouldn't be this hard._


	2. Street Talk

Roman would swear at the top of his lungs if he had any air in them. He was laid out on his back in the middle of the street, gasping for air. Roman didn't understand it. It didn't make sense. Almost every person in the club was a monster, and Roman couldn't smell any of them. He didn't sense anything was wrong and everyone appeared normal at first. Everyone except the girl.

Managing to sit upright, Roman tried to control his breathing while staring at the hole in the club wall. The girl he met inside emerged from the front door and made her way towards him.

"Are you okay?" She shouted.

Roman didn't have enough power to protect his voice, so he waited for her to get nearer.

"Does it looked like I'm okay?" His voice came out cracked.

"I told you not to fight him." She bent down and helps her hand out to him but he glared at her.

"What are you? How did you know what they were?"

She watched him quietly as he scrambled to his feet without her help and looked back at the club door entrance.

"They aren't going to come after you. They are actually good people, you just killed the mood."

"And how would you know?" He asked her. "You looked lost while you were in there."

"I can just tell. They didn't attack me when I came after you." She tried to inspect him for injuries, but he was looking at the blood on his hand. Chris's blood.

He popped his knuckles and closed his eyes. After breathing deeply in silence for a second, he looked up and said,

"I need a drink."

"I've seen a few liquor stores this way-"

"I don't need to drink alcohol."

Roman started walking in the opposite direction of her, just to get some distance. As intriguing as she was, she couldn't be trusted. Still, in the middle of the street, he reckoned getting hit by a car would be better than dealing with an unknown creature. Whatever poor sap ran him over would instantly be dinner and boom, problem solved.

"Wait!" She called after him.

"What are you?"

Roman kept walking.

"I asked you the same question a minute ago. At least my form is naturally like this. I am a vampire. A murderer, a killer, a bloodsucking freak with no remorse for my victims. Whoever you are, whatever you are, go home. Go back to the club. Just stay away from me."

"Is that supposed to scare me?" She called after him.

 _No._ He thought to himself. _It's supposed_ _to boost my own confidence_. As far as Roman knew, she could be a half horse person too, waiting to stomp him to death at the first chance. He had no intention dealing with monsters he couldn't even detect. It was time to find easier prey.

"Don't go! Please! My name is Audrey, Audrey Gibson. And I.. I am..." Roman stopped walking, and she faltered.

"And what, Audrey?" Roman said, turning around.

"And... I'm a goddess." She said, exhaling as if it took a lot of effort just to say that.

Roman smiled, and it looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"What's so funny?" She snapped, feeling offended.

He walked back to her at a fast pace and put his hand on her shoulders.

"Did you get hit in the head at the club too, or were you just born special?"

Audrey pulled away from his touch.

"There's nothing wrong with me you jerk, I'm telling the truth."

Roman actually laughed this time.

"Really?"

"Yes! Really."

"Look at me. Um, Audrey, was it? Look into my eyes. I have never heard of a god or goddess with a last name. You sound dumb. I didn't see you drink anything, did you drink something at the club tonight?"

"I'm fine and I'm completely sober! I have a last name because I wasn't born a god. I was a regular human, like you."

Roman shook his head and bared his fangs in a smile. "I haven't been a 'regular human' since I was 7. You're nothing like me."

"Okay, fine." Audrey had given up on the argument.

"What is your name? You never said it."

"My name's Roman."

Audrey's face changed a little when he said it. Was that disgust?

"What?" He asked. "What's wrong with my name?"

"It's nothing really, it's just that I am a Greek goddess, and your name is literally Roman, it's kind of weird."

"Oh yeah?" Roman remarked. "the Greek goddess of what?"

"I... I don't know yet."

Roman just stared at her blankly.

"Stop wasting my time." He turned back around and continued to walk again, this time vowing not to stop.

He heard Audrey's pleas and was about to tell her to shut up when a sharp smell struck his nose.

Blood. Lots of it. Blood freshly ripped off of some poor defenseless idiot, Roman could smell it clear as day though he sensed it was a few miles away. Just the scent alone disconnected him from the outside world.

He stopped hearing Audrey and began to imagine what he would find it he followed the trail. From the scent, he can tell that someone wasn't just killed, someone was bitten too. There could be multiple people at the scene. Multiple vampires and multiple victims. Even if they weren't willing to share, Roman was going to see this for himself.

Some dumb thug that tried to rob the wrong person, maybe. Or some foolish girl that put too much faith and trust in one guy. Whatever it was, when he got there he was gonna-

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" A loud horn from an 18 wheeler snapped him out of his daydream while Audrey took him by the shoulders and pulled him out of harm's way. It may be more appropriate to say flung because he was lifted off his feet and sent flying to the sidewalk.

"Pay attention to where you're going! Haven't you been wounded enough tonight?"

"No. Now I'm about to go find a bloodbath."


	3. Somebody

Roman was running like a living torpedo. Audrey, surprisingly, wasn't far behind.

"Is there a reason you're still following me?" He called back to her.

"Yes. I want to see what you're getting yourself into."

He wasn't sure if he heard her correctly because of the wind whistling in his ears.

"Why is that any of your concern?" He said, stopping for a moment to face her.

His abrupt stop caught her off guard and she slammed into him, her head smacking his and both of them groaned in pain.

"Jesus! Ow!" said Roman, backing up and rubbing his sore head.

"Sorry," said Audrey, clutching her own head.

"I just want to see if this bloodbath you talked about is connected to Greek monsters."

"Greek monsters?"

"Yes, Greek monsters. Like most of the people in the bar."

"Maybe that's why I couldn't smell or sense them."

Audrey thought it about it for a second.

"Yeah, that's probably it. Regular people couldn't even see their true forms anyways, but the fact you saw the bodyguard's form means you just have to adjust to seeing Greek monsters."

Roman rubbed his chest gingerly, remembering the indents that had disappeared from his chest.

"What was he?" Roman asked her.

"A centaur. A pretty old one too, that's why his form was so massive. He was probably a great warrior in his youth."

"I'd like to repay him for kicking my fucking chest in."

"No, you can't do that. You were part of the problem."

"Problem? I came over to talk to you and that old guy felt like he had the balls to-"

The smell of blood got stronger and sharper like it was getting close.

"What?" said Audrey. "What's wrong?"

"The bloodbath. Whatever it is, either the victim or the predator, something's fleeing the scene. I'm still going. If you still want to come, go ahead, but I don't think you will like what you see."

Roman didn't wait for a response. He took off at full speed and left her struggling to catch up. When he reached a fast food restaurant, he stopped and lonelier at the edge, sniffing the air.

"Is it inside?" asked Audrey as she kneeled beside him.

"No." he said quietly. "But the smell of blood has branched off in two directions. It starts here, behind this place, but the other trail leads west of here, probably heading to downtown."

"Which one are you going after?"

"The ones that already ran away are gone, but still trackable with enough skill. Let's find out what this is."

Roman walked very slowly around the restaurant, taking in all details around him. The restaurant was mostly clean on the outside, a little trash here and there but cleaner than most in this city. The dumpsters in the back gave off a pungent odor that stung his nose like acid, but it still didn't interfere with the smell of fresh blood.

He came to the edge of the wall and stared at a pool of blood. He wasn't sure at first, but the pool of blood was still expanding, just like he thought it'd be. He turned the corner and found a woman lying face down in the pool of blood, her neck bent at an awkward angle and her clothes shredded and torn. She was thirty feet away from the only two cars left in the parking lot.

"Damn." He muttered under his breath. Several attackers. But what was the point? There aren't that many vampires here. Most locals don't kill and leave the body behind, this had to come from foreigners. Roman just had to find out who they were. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the body.

"Rolan... uh, it doesn't feel safe out here," Audrey told him.

Roman laughed. "My name's Roman, and _duh,_ you should've expected that _._ You don't seem that scared though. Have you seen dead bodies before?"

"Yea, but that's not what I mean. I feel like something wants to kill us."

"I'm used to it." He said bluntly.

Roman reached down to check the woman's pockets before realizing she probably carried a purse. "Hey, look around and see if you find anything that belongs to her." Roman told Audrey.

"Got it."

Roman thought about not touching the woman. The police would arrive sooner or later.

He pulled out his phone and took a couple of photos. He could visit a coven nearby, or a hangout space, and ask a couple of questions. Every vampire in this city was tasked with keeping their existence a secret. It was more than just watching out for yourself, you had to watch out for every vampire in the city. If vampires were ever exposed, the leaders in D.C would slaughter every vampire in the city, man, woman, and child.

"I found her purse and her phone!" Audrey called out. "She wasn't mugged because her wallet is still in here. She has a lot of money too."

"She _had_ a lot of money," Roman corrected her while reaching for the phone and purse.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked him. "Would you really rob a dead woman?"

"Oh God no. I said had because she's dead."

He pressed the power button and the screen lit up. The lock screen was a beautiful picture of the woman currently lying face down in her own blood.

"Wow," said Roman quietly. "She was really pretty."

Audrey turned the phone toward her so she could have a look.

"Yeah. She was."

"Call the police. I'm gonna unlock her phone with her fingerprint, see if I can find anyone close to her to let them know."

Roman unlocked his phone and handed it to her. As she took the call, he bent down and gently lifted the woman's wrist. Her skin was still warm, though it felt like the air around him got colder. Roman slightly pressed her fingerprint against the phone and it vibrated.

 _The fingerprint doesn't match. Try again._

He tried every single finger, but none of them worked.

"What the hell? Maybe she's left handed." Roman muttered. He got up to dust himself off when he heard Audrey scream.

"WATCH OUT ROMAN!"

He looked up just in time to see a kid with long hair jump at his face. He grabbed the kid's arms trying to hold her still, but she was strong and extremely angry.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" the girl screamed, thrashing wildly.

Roman was trying to contain her, trying to calm her down but the girl was distressed and erratic.

"MOVE! GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Roman finally got a look at her face. Her eyes looked like cataracts and glowed white, her cheeks were wet, probably from crying, and she screamed in rage.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY MOM!"


	4. Caitlyn

Roman had no choice but to throw her away from him to get some distance. She slammed into the grocery store next to the restaurant, though it didn't look like it hurt much. She got up and screamed, attacking him again and again, but this time he was able to keep her at bay.

"Is she a vampire?" asked Aubrey, who had hidden behind Roman.

"Close," he grunted, clearly struggling against the fiery little girl. "She's a fledgling. She must have been attacked before we came. This was probably her mother."

In hindsight, Roman realized he could've worded that a little bit better. She overpowered him and punched him in across his face, sending him flying backward into Aubrey, and her crashing through the restaurant wall.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Roman stammered, trying to get to his feet.

"Are you okay?" He turned to ask her, but she was already standing. He noticed a slight shimmering light around her, and she looked like she was ready to kill.

"Hey, um... she's just a kid, so don't get too-"

They both ran at each other full speed, grabbing each other's clothes and tearing at them.

Roman jumped into the mix pulling the kid off Aubrey only to get elbowed in the face. His jaw made a little click on contact and he went down for the count. Seeing Roman dazed, Aubrey was done messing around. She grabbed the kid by her throat and held her arms in place. The little girl's eyes flooded with tears as she struggled to get free.

Roman finally picked himself off the ground, testing his jaw. He looked over to Aubrey and pulled the girl away from her. The little girl fell to her knees, gasping for air.

"Stop it!" He demanded. "She's still a kid. I can fix this."

"Show me how then," Aubrey snapped. "Because she just knocked the daylights out of you."

Roman slowly bent down to talk to the girl.

"Hey... I'm sorry. Are you okay?" He asked softly.

Her weeping turned to heaving, she was breathing quickly.

"She doesn't sound okay." Aubrey called out warily.

"We didn't mean to hurt you, we just came looking for answers. Can you tell me what happened here?"

Her crying got louder, she curled up and recoiled from Roman's touch.

"Who did this to you? What happened to your mother?"

The crying stopped. She rose her head and looked at Roman with extreme hatred.

"Get the hell away from me!"

She screamed and launched to attack Roman, but he didn't flinch. He raised his right arm slowly and she sunk her fangs deep into his hand while ripping into his shirt. Aubrey stepped forward to help but Roman put up his left hand to stop her. After a few seconds, the little girl released him and pulled away.

Roman stared at his right hand, wiggling all his fingers, slowly watching the wound heal to nothing. Looking back at the girl, her eyes were now completely back to normal, besides the redness from crying. She didn't look angry anymore, only sad.

"What just happened?" asked Aubrey.

"I calmed her down. Fledgling vampires often lose control, especially if they haven't fed yet. The blood of a regular vampire can calm them down, if and only if the vampire willingly gives their blood. If she just slaughtered me without my permission she'd still be rampaging right now."

"So she's okay?" asked Aubrey, still nervous.

"Yes. What we just saw wasn't her at all. She's just a normal kid. She didn't ask for this. It's okay now."

He looked back to the girl, who stood up and gave him a hug. He rubbed her back gently and kept comforting her. Judging by the wetness of his shirt, he could tell she was crying again. Aubrey inched closer and rubbed the girl's hair.

"I'm sorry." she whispered to her.

The kid wiped her face and looked at her.

"It's okay." They hugged, and Roman crouched down to be eye level with the girl.

"Can you tell us your name?" He asked her.

"It's Caitlyn." She replied with the smallest of smiles.

"That's a really pretty name Caitlyn! My name is Aubrey."

"And I'm Roman." He wanted to ask her so much, but didn't want to upset her.

"We want to ask you a couple of things okay? If you aren't able to tell us, I could get answers another way, if that's okay with you."

She sniffled. "What do you mean?"

"I can... uh..." Suddenly he realized how perverted this sounded. Aubrey also looked confused.

"I can read your mind. With your permission, that is. I can see your memories of certain things, like the things that just happened. But only if you want me to."

"Do you know what I'm thinking right now?" She asked him.

"No. It doesn't work like that. I have to touch you, and you have to let me into your mind. Do you want to do it that way, or can we just ask you questions?"

"Questions." She answered.

"Okay. Good." He was kind of relieved, because reading her memories would put him in her point of view, and he didn't want to experience the trauma of becoming a vampire all over again. He tried to think of what to ask her but didn't know where to start.

"Aubrey...?" He motioned for her to go first.

"Okay, so Caitlyn, what did you do today?"

Roman looked at her like she was an idiot, but she didn't notice.

"No." Roman interjected. "What were you and your mother doing it here, in this alley?"

"We weren't in this alley. We went to that restaurant to eat. We were celebrating my graduation."

"Oh, congratulations!" squealed Aubrey. "What grade are you going to?"

"Sixth grade." said Caitlyn, smiling. "I'm about to go to middle school."

Aubrey gave her a high five like she was a toddler, and Roman decided to get them back on track.

"Okay. So you were here celebrating with your mom?"

"And Dad. We were going to go to the movies are this." Caitlyn answered, quieter.

"And Dad.." Roman repeated softly.

"Can you tell me where you think he went?"

Caitlyn looked at him for a moment before tears came flooding back.

"It's okay." said Aubrey. "Tell us when you're ready."

Caitlyn wiped her tears away and b began to speak.

"We all left together, but we ran into a bunch of big guys. They kept trying to get our attention, but my mommy told me to walk faster. Then they said something about her, and my dad turned around. He punched one, then they all attacked him and my mom screamed and-"

Caitlyn choked up and starting sobbing. Aubrey pulled her in close and held her tight. Roman doubted she'd be willing or able to explain further. Unless...

He put his hand on her head and closed his eyes. _Focus._ He whispered to himself. _First the sight goes, then the sound goes, then I'm there._

He opened his eyes again and he was two feet shorter.


	5. Daniel

"I'm sorry, but no thanks, we don't have any money on us."

The same woman Roman just saw sprawled in blood was now rushing me to the back of the restaurant. A big man was walking on the other side of me. Caitlyn's parents

"What type of bullshit lie is that? You just left the restaurant."

Four men stood grouped together at the back of the restaurant, smoking. The one that spoke was Caucasian and wearing a burgundy leather jacket. He was bald and looked to be the oldest out of the four.

"Well I'm sorry, we just don't have any money to spare right now." Caitlyn's dad turned back around and kept walking.

"Homeless bastards." He muttered.

"Always peddling."

"Hush, Danny let's just go." Caitlyn's mother whispered.

"Yo, what did you just say?" The bald man called out.

They froze.

"How did he hear me over there?" Caitlyn's father wondered aloud.

"We ain't homeless you skunk faced bitch! Say that to our face!" He yelled.

"Daniel let's go." Caitlyn's mother insisted, walking faster and not looking back.

"Jeremy chill, leave these folks alone." said a younger dark skinned man in sweats.

"Nah man, he called us homeless! I'd love to take that fine little lady of yours to my home, show her what a _real_ man's house looks like."

Daniel stopped dead in his tracks, while Caitlyn's mother and Roman bwas just a few feet away from the car.

He turned around slowly, scowling.

"What the hell did you just say?" He demanded, his hand sliding into the inside of his jacket

"Daniel, no!" Caitlyn's mother pleaded.

"You heard me, you square ass, four eyed, dog fucking son of a-"

Daniel whipped out a gun and aimed at the bald man, but instead of a gun shot there was a loud, sickening _crack_. Caitlyn's mother screamed and clamped her hand over my eyes so quick Roman didn't have the chance to see anything. He tried to move her hand out of the way so he could see but realized he was in Caitlyn's memories. She didn't see what just happened she wouldn't have been strong enough to pry her mother's hands off her face. Daniel was now screaming in agony and Roman was being swept off his feet. He heard a chirp and a click and was forcefully shoved into the backseat of a car.

"Stay put Caitlyn!"Her mother's last words to Roman after dashing towards her husband. Caitlyn's little body was completely traumatized from all the stress. Her temperature was all the way up, her head was hurting and she was trembling in fear. Roman couldn't control the past. He couldn't control the way Caitlyn was feeling even though he was part of her.

After Caitlyn's mom slammed the door and ran, Roman could clearly see what happened. Daniel was on his knees, howling and his arm was completely twisted backwards, appearing to be stuck in that position. Caitlyn's mother ran to her husband's aid and picked up the gun he had dropped.

"Stay back!" She screamed desperately. "Leave us alone!"

Jeremy's snickered. "Why are you so upset dollface? We did you a favor. Now your husband can be double jointed. Isn't that great?"

Her response to this was to shoot Jeremy dead in the chest three times. He took the bullets easily, then started to smile.

"You're a good shot." He complimented her.

"I'd show you to my kids if they weren't all dead."

"Get away from us!" She screamed."What are you?!"

Jeremy began to walk closer and, with difficulty, Caitlyn's mother began to drag her husband to the car.

"Get out of here Tammy!" Daniel yelled. "Take Caitlyn and go!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Roman heard Tammy shout as she started to pull him back a little faster.

"Since you showed me your aim," said Jeremy, remorseless. "I'll show you mine."

He just _appeared_ in front of Tammy and lifted her up by her hair. She screamed and kicked but it was pointless. He was too strong. He raised her face close to his and whispered something to her. Something that Caitlyn couldn't have heard. Then Tammy spat in his face, and the fury in his eyes was enough to scare a lion. Jeremy grabbed her throat with the other hand and threw her towards the dumpsters. She smacked it with a loud _thud,_ and Caitlyn screamed so loud she cracked her voice. As Caitlyn, Roman was banging on the door window, screaming for them to get back to the car. He was sure, even with Caitlyn being as young as she was, she knew her parents weren't going to make it back to the car.

"Look at you two. Weak. Pathetic. And you had the nerve to pull a gun on us. STOP WHIMPERING!" Jeremy shouted towards Daniel.

"Stop it, or I go get your daughter out of that car!"

Despite his ordeal, Daniel bit his lip as hard as he could and stopped crying. Realizing the bad man was talking about her sent Caitlyn into a whole new level of panic. She ducked down and cried, much to Roman's dismay.

 _For the love of God!_ He thought. _Get back up so I know what's happening!_

"You were so anxious to use that gun on me, weren't you? I hadn't even done anything wrong! Maybe you must have gotten a bad feeling about me, didn't you?"

Daniel said nothing, just stared at Jeremy either in pain and panic, or anger and rage.

"Since you wanted to shoot me so bad, let me give you something real to shoot. Franco, _bite him."_

Am asian looking man with a dark purple hoodie walked up past Jeremy and sat Daniel upright. Holding him by his head, Franco strangely began to sniff Daniel all over, causing Daniel to try to jerk free. But Franco had a solid grip and he forced Daniel to tilt his head. Exposing Daniel's neck, Franco's eyes turned into slits, his teeth fangs and he struck Daniel's neck. There was no scream, no sound came from Daniel. He just went perfectly still, and Caitlyn covered her eyes once more.


	6. Memories

After what felt like forever to Roman, Caitlyn finally looked up to see what happened. Franco was walking away from Daniel, but Daniel didn't move. He seemed Frozen in place. He wasn't writhing in pain anymore, he wasn't breathing heavily, he seemed calm.

Jeremy observed him from a distance, smiling. "Good. Now get up."

For some reason, Daniel obeyed. He got up perfectly fine, despite his arm being broken horribly. His eyes were distant, as if he was daydreaming. It didn't look like he knew where he was. He looked completely lost.

"Daddy!" Caitlyn screamed. It felt weird for Roman to hear that sound come out of his mouth. Then again, it wasn't his mouth, it was hers.

Jeremy picked up the gun Tammy dropped and held it out to Daniel.

"Your wife's got good aim, but we didn't get to see yours, did we?"

Franco and the others laughed.

"Take this."

With another disgusting snap, Daniel's arm fixed itself and grabbed the gun.

"Now shoot her."

"DADDY NO!" Caitlyn screamed.

Daniel fired until the barrel was empty, not even hearing his daughter. But Jeremy did.

"I almost forgot about that kid. Should we kill her too?"

"No man. There's no point. I thought we was gonna party tonight? How we get caught up in this crap?" asked Franco.

"We always got time to party. And Bishop, I can hear your thoughts right now, you nasty freak. Go ahead, she's all yours."

Bishop, one of the quieter guys who hadn't done much, started moving towards Tammy.

 _Oh no. No. No. No. Please tell me Caitlyn didn't see her mother get-_

To Roman's surprise, Caitlyn climbed into the front seat and opened the door. She ran as fast as she could, but Roman knew she wouldn't make it. What would she even do? They all were vampires, she'd never stand a chance. But somehow, something happened. Roman wasn't sure if it was him affecting Caitlyn's memories or what, but she bolted like a cheetah towards her mother, faster than a little girl, or an adult for that matter, should be able to move that fast. But she did. And it reminded Roman of what he could do.

She leapt over her mother's body, stretching her arms out to protect her. Roman saw she saw. He felt what she felt. Her mother was still warm. Roman could already tell what would happen next, but he still wasn't ready for the sharp pain in his... her left shoulder.

"Ah! Oh crap!" Bishop shouted, leaping away from the little girl.

"Are you serious?!" said Franco.

"Do you know what you've done?!" shouted Jeremy.

"You just bit a kid! A kid! Do you know what happens when they turn? We need to go, now!"

They all vanished into streaks of color, including Caitlyn's father Daniel. Meanwhile, Roman, or Caitlyn, couldn't breathe. She laid atop of her mother holding her chest, her throat and nose burning. The smell of blood got stronger and her teeth started to ache. Hyperventilating, she held her mother tightly and thought about the men that did this. She wanted to find them. She wanted the chase after them so bad. Her emotions became Roman's emotions until his connection broke, and he was back on the restaurant floor, crying and biting his lip.

"What's wrong Roman? What happened?" Audrey asked, shocked at his sudden change. Caitlyn who was watching him intensely, had stopped crying.

"We're going to find them Caitlyn. I promise." He told her. Roman wiped his face.

"Do you have any family close by, relatives or friends?"

Caitlyn shook her head.

"No. I have some family, but I don't where they are, and my mom didn't like them anyways."

"Well that's just... It's fine. Audrey, would you take care of her while I track then down?"

"Sure, but we can't stay here. So you think you can find your home from here?"

"No, but I could get home if you gave me back my dad's phone."

"Your dad's? Oh. That's why the fingerprint didn't work."

Roman handed her the phone and she put her finger on the fingerprint scanner. It unlocked instantly.

"I thought you just said it was your dad's phone?"Audrey asked, puzzled.

"It is, but he added my fingerprint so I could unlock it and play games. I used to lock it up all the time trying to guess the code. Now he's-"

"Shh. Don't think about it. He was bitten, just like you. He's alive, and under the bald guys mind control. Hopefully I make it in time before something else happens."

Roman stood up and made his way towards the door.

"No! I'm coming too!" said Caitlyn.

"That's cute, but no." Roman replied.

"But he's my dad and I want to save him!"

Roman turned around and glared at her. Her face went blank, and she walked back to Audrey. She sat down, closed her eyes and went to sleep

"That's what I thought. said Roman mostly to himself.

"Did you use mind control on her?"

"Of course I did. I've been inside her mind, and that's alot to handle. Plus, we don't know what shape they left her father in. They turned him into a puppet for no reason. They could've discarded him already."

Roman opened the restaurant door and was greeted by a cool breeze. This is too good of a night to have to worry about this crap. He started to step out but Audrey called after him.

"What? What is it?" He replied, looking back at Audrey holding Caitlyn close.

"Just make sure you're careful." She told him.

He pulled the door closed, smiling.

 _I've know her for forty minutes, and she acts like she cares._ He thought to himself as he began to walk away. He could almost smell their scent from Caitlyn's memories, that's how powerful his ability was. He went in the same direction as they had done in the past, locking on to a familiar scent, Caitlyn's father. After about twenty minutes, he found all of them near a liquor store, with Franco attacking two men and one woman while Jeremy drunk some booze, probably stolen from their new victims. Caitlyn's father was there, looking just as dazed as he did in her memories, standing idle next to Jeremy.

 _I'm going to save them and your father Caitlyn._ Roman thought to himself.

He jumped up high and transformed , becoming small, agile and black. It was a warm and mind numbing sensation, all of his limbs becoming smaller, and a short burst of shock as his eyes readjusted. His small slender new form flew towards the crew of thugs, aiming right for Jeremy's head.


	7. Holding Back

"Its so damn funny when they try to fight back." Jeremy commented while Franco pummeled the two men into dust. Thanks to their bravery, the girl fortunately got away. Jeremy took a deep breath of fresh air.

"I love this city. So quiet. So easy. I wish the victims were this easy in Cali."

Roman shapeshifted back to human form and wrapped his hands around Jeremy's throat.

All the other vampires stopped what they were doing and stared at them, waiting for an opening.

"Who are you?" said Franco.

"You should've just minded your own business."

"No, you shouldn't have come into my territory." Roman replied, squeezing Jeremy's throat.

" _You're_ territory?" Jeremy tried to laugh through Roman's stranglehold.

We haven't seen nor smelled a vampire for miles, or a vampire attack for that matter. When was the last time you spilled blood and took a life? I see no reason why we should believe you run this joint."

"My hands are around your throat, isn't that a good enough reason?" Roman replied, digging his sharp nails into Jeremy's throat.

"Either you let him go, or we spread your remains all over your little _territory._ " said Franco.

"You let him go, and I'll let this bastard go." Roman nodded in Daniel's direction.

"That? You can't be serious. He's a nobody."

"No he isn't." said Roman, getting angry.

"You took that little girl's mother and father away from her, and I've come to get him back."

Franco frowned.

"You were there? Why be bold and brave now? Why didn't you do anything then?"

"I wasn't, but I found her, all alone, because of you. Let him go and I might leave you alone."

Franco, Bishop, and the other guy laughed, but Jeremy grew warm and sweaty. Jeremy swallowed and Roman could feel his pulse quicken.

"We aren't from here, if you haven't noticed. I'm sure you've heard of tales of that Cali venom, haven't you?"

Franco walked over to Daniel and ripped off his shirt, revealing his upper body. Daniel's body was smoking, his skin melting clean off his back, and it started right at the bite wound.

Watching Roman's reaction, Franco smiled. "Yea. You weren't expecting that were you? If you still want him we don't need to trade..."

Suddenly, in a burst of motion faster than Roman could comprehend, Franco charged at them and shoved his hand straight through Jeremy's chest. Roman backed away but not far enough, Franco had reached straight through Jeremy into Roman's chest, wrapping his hand around Roman's heart. Before he could squish it, Roman ripped Franco's hand off right at the wrist and pulled away, kicking Jeremy and making him fall on top of him.

Franco screamed in pain and disgust as Jeremy convulsed and choked up blood. Finally free, Roman slowly pulled Franco's hand out of his chest and tried to remain stable.

 _This is gonna a long time to heal if I don't feed soon._ He thought to himself as he got to his feet. Bishop ran at him head on and Roman smacked him in the jaw, cracking his skull. He was sent flying into a concrete wall but was already getting back up, clutching his jaw. The other vampire grabbed Roman and threw him into the same wall, but Roman wasn't as quick to recover. Enraged, he leapt up but Bishop kicked him in the chest and he collides into the rubble again.

Looking for an escape route, Roman turns into a bat and flies high, but Franco jumps off a building, grabs Roman, and puts him into his mouth.

He hits the ground with an ungrateful thud as he struggles to keep the bat in his mouth.

"Ugh, you didn't have paid me to do that, Frankie." said Bishop, slowly walking over.

Franco, breathing frantically, grins and begins to chew Roman. After the fourth bite, Franco's eyes widen. He covers his face and screams. He starts thrashing on the concrete until Bishop runs to help.

"Curt help me out!"

Bishop bends down and removes Franco's hand to see his left check had been eaten completely through, and his left hand had been eaten into as well.

"Just spit him out Franco! Spit him-!"

Franco's head tore apart and blood splattered everywhere, getting into Bishop's eyes. Before he could clean the blood off his face, he felt a wet hand grab his throat.

"I can't even begin," Roman panted. "To tell you how much that hurt."

He snapped Bishop's neck and fell to his knees, succumbing to the pain. He rolled over and stretched out, trying to regain feeling in his legs.

 _I don't think think I can heal from this._ Roman thought to himself. He heard a loud crashing sound nearby, followed by electric sparking.

 _Damn it, there was another one. I'm toast._

Something touches his hand, and Roman slowly looks over to see the pool of blood spreading from Franco's headless corpse. He didn't even have enough strength to lean over and drink Franco's blood, not that he wanted to. Aloud thunderclap filled the night, along of a very light sprinkle. The reason seemed to ease his pain.

 _I should've planned this better._ Roman thought to himself.

 _Now I'm going to die and Caitlyn won't see her father ever again._

Wait.. Caitlyn's father!

Roman took a couple quick breaths and forced himself to sit up. Daniel was still standing in the same position, staring at nothing. He skin was starting to boil now.

 _He's too far gone. I don't how I can tell Caitlin what happened, if I see her again, that is._

Daniel turned towards Roman and began to walk over.

 _What the?_ Roman was confused. Vampire mindslaves don't have free will. But here Daniel was, walking over slowly and deliberately.

"Hey, can you understand me?" He asked. "Are you aware of what's happened to you?"

Daniel said nothing. As soon as he got close he kicked Roman in the face, almost knocking him out

 _What's happening?_ He thought as he turned over and saw Curtis, holding a lamppost pulled straight out of the tree, and Jeremy, rubbing the huge wound on his chest.

"I hope you didn't forget how hard it is to kill vampires, even basic ones like to. Although, I will give you props where it's due. Franco ain't coming back from that."

Daniel yanked Roman's left arm, causing him to howl like a wounded animal. He put him in an upright position and pinned his hand behind his back.

"Since you cared enough to rescue this imbecile I'll kill you both at the same time. Would you like that?"

Roman's eyes fluttered, half closed. He wasn't even conscious enough to hear what Jeremy was saying. Bishop stood up and fixed his neck before joining the others.

"How about you tell us your name before we splatter you on the pavement?"

Silence.

Roman couldn't hear them anymore, all he heard was ringing sound in both ears. His vision was getting blurrier, so he saw no reason in keeping his eyes open.

"Fine then. Kill them Curtis."

Curtis got ready to slam the lamppost down, but suddenly, everyone's nerves were on end. Thunder boomed overhead and rain came pouring down, so fast and do heavy the streets were already beginning to flood. They sensed someone approaching them, and everyone turned around. A woman was walking towards them, her body illuminated with a bright glow. Her eyes were glowing just as bright as the aura around her, and she had a scowl on her face.

"Hey, you! Are you doing this!" Jeremy shouted over the rushing rain.

The girl raised her hand and opened her mouth. Roman opened his eyes just in time to see white streak of light hit her hand and arce through Curtis, Jeremy, and Bishop. They all screamed and exploded into ash, but the lightning bolt kept going and crackled against the concrete, coming straight to Roman. He fought and fidgeted but Daniel wouldn't budge.

Roman closed his eyes and braced himself for the bolt.

But it didn't happened. Suddenly, he felt a burst of heat on his back, and Daniel let go. Roman feel backwards and hit his head, cursing out loud. He looked up, and Daniel was gone. The lightning bolt must have went past him, but why?

"Roman, are you okay?"

That voice. That girl.

"I thought I told you to stay with Caitlyn." He responded, unmoving.

"She woke up," Audrey replied.

"She said you probably can't take on this many people alone."

"Wow," he mumbled to himself. "No faith whatsoever."

"She wasn't wrong, Roman." Audrey stood over him, holding out her hand to help him up. The rain started to lesson, and the glow around her faded.

 _I guess she actually is a goddess._ Roman thought, ignoring the pain for a moment.

Watching her looming over him made something click inside his head, something he couldn't control.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" He growled, crawling away from her. His vision went in and out of focus, his heart was beating faster and the only thing he could think of was blood.

"No, Roman, let me try to help you!"

"Stay... Away... From me!" He seethed, trying to get up on his feet. He bit his already busted lip to help control himself, but it was useless.

"I need to heal." He said to himself through quick breaths. "I need to rest. I need blood."

The acid and venom in Franco's fangs tore into Roman's skin, dissolving him from the inside out. Still, he knew he could heal from this. Vampires can heal from almost anything.

"Let me use my powers to help you." Audrey told him. "There's no way you'll heal without some help."

He shooed her away, steadily trying to put more distance between.

 _Don't kill her._ He told himself.

 _Don't kill her. Don't kill her don't kill her don't kill her don't kill-_

"You aren't going to make it far Roman! Let me help you before you die!"

"I won't die. " He growled. "I just need blood."

He try to turn into a bat and fly away, but his body wouldn't shift. Instead he jumped up and fell on his stomach, increasing his pain tenfold.

Audrey ran to his side while he screamed in pain. She raised both hands and started to glow again.

He stopped writhing in pain to watch her. The smell of rain increased, but it didn't pour down. The clouds seemed to disperse a little, and the sky got brighter.

Then he noticed that his entire body was starting to heat up. Tendrils of smoke curled of his body, and his skin sizzled.

"Ow! ah, crap! Audrey stop! STOP!"

He lashed out and grabbed her wrists.

"Stop. You're not helping me, your _cooking_ me." Roman held her in a vice-like grip, struggling to contain himself.

"Look, it helped a little, I think."

Looking at his wounds, he saw that they hadn't actually healed, but that had stopped bleeding. She basically cauterized his wounds by burning him. Franco's venom had stopped melting his skin, but he didn't know if that was her doing, or his own healing factor. His vision got darker and his fangs ached. His whole entire body thirsted for blood. His stomach cramped and he bent over,

"Get as far away, as you can. Why won't you leave?!" He cried, trying to sheathe the fangs. Roman screamed as two huge bat like wings sprouted from his back.

"Because you're hurt and I want to help you!"

"BUT THIS IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM!" He roared, and backed away, the wings withering to nothing.

"It doesn't have to be! Out of all the people and creatures I've seen, you're one of the most... I don't know... You're just different and I think that we could-"

It was over. Roman threw himself at her and sunk his teeth in her throat. His mind screamed, revolted against his body, but it was useless. As if he was possessed by a whole nother creature, Roman couldn't help but wonder in horror how this happened.

 _Why aren't you running?!_ He wondered.

 _Fight back?! Resist me! Run!_

If he drunk too much blood she'd die. If he managed to stop now she'd only become a vampire, possibly. It's still not a good outcome. She should've ran, she should've fought, she should've done something!

"I've lived for years, decades longer than you could imagine," Audrey whispered, still not fighting back.

"And after a full lifetime, the one thing I realized I wanted was someone who could spend eternity with me. Someone that wasn't an entitled god, someone who knew what it was like to be human, to grow and learn from their mistakes. Tonight, I think you could be the one I've been looking for."

Roman's breathing stopped. His fangs retracted and his body grew warm. He felt energized, more than he had ever felt before. This wasn't the same as drinking a regular humans blood, this was... Indescribable. All his pain was gone. He felt like he could fly without his wings, like someone had flipped a switch and got rid of all the world's darkness.

He pulled back and took a deep breath. Audrey was smiling despite the two marks on her neck.

"Audrey..." Roman lifted his have to wipe away the blood dripping from the wound.

"It doesn't hurt she replied, moving his hand away."

And then suddenly it got too hot. The sky boomed overhead and even Audrey looked confused. The rain started to pour and Roman watched Audrey's eyes flutter and close as she fell backwards.

The moment his have grabbed her arm, a bolt of lighting struck them both that split the street in half.


	8. Wake Up Call

Audrey was gone. Vanished in a blaze of light, leaving Roman in shock, burned and broiling on the street. The ran bouncing off his skin did little too ease the fire eating at his flesh.

 _I'm an idiot._ He realized, spots dancing in his eyes.

 _I'm an idiot for trusting and believing, even for a second._

He decided to empty his mind and stop thinking about her. Burning wasn't much better than bleeding out, but he got himself into this, didn't he?

The moment he could stand he planned on devouring the first person in sight. Not because of thirst, out of sheer anger. Sucking Audrey's blood was incredible. His hunger was gone, the stomach pains were gone, and he felt completely refreshed. But now, after she struck him down, he didn't know how to feel.

 _She better not show up in that bar again._ He thought to himself, testing his fingers before trying to close them into a fist.

"Agh!" He cried as he slowly unclenched his hand.

 _I should sleep. That'll heal these wounds a little bit, even though I'm practically running on empty._

He gently closed his eyelids, which were unfortunately not spared from being burned. He slowed his breathing and tried to think happy thoughts to ignore the pain before falling asleep. Waving at little children that wave back, barbecuing on holidays and the thought of ripping Audrey's limbs off. Happy things like that.

He'd almost fallen asleep when he noticed something. Something he could barely hear over the wind. It sounded so familiar, but it shouldn't. Even worse, he could feel it too. Roman lifted his slightly charred right hand and gingerly placed it over his chest, right above his heart.

It was exactly what he thought it was. But he had no clue what had happened. Roman's heart was now beating again, something it hadn't done in over twenty years.

Roman woke up staring at a ceiling, which scared him for many reasons.

Reason number one, he didn't remember falling asleep. He put his hand against his chest and realized that last night was not a dream. His heart was beating again. Reason two, he was wearing different clothes. Reasons three and four, he was in his bedroom and some random woman was sitting at the foot of his bed, staring at a wall.

"Who are you?" He asked quietly, preparing to fight.

"How did you get in here?"

The woman turned around and Roman's heart skipped a beat, a feeling almost as foreign as the stranger in front of him. Her eyes were as dark as obsidian, no iris, no sclera, just two dark pools of black staring at him with no emotion.

"I'm Caitlyn. You tried to help me last night."

"Caitlyn?" said Roman, in shock.

"No, that can't be... Did I grow this much when I was bitten?" He asked, mostly to himself. She wasn't a little kid anymore, she was practically the size of an adult. Roman had never seen a vampire grow so fast in that small amount of time.

"Don't you want to know how you got here?" She asked, monotonely.

"Yea, I uh... Yeah. I'm so confused right now."

"After you went after those guys, I had a dream. A vision that you were going to lose. It felt like a nightmare, and I was scared when I woke up. I told Audrey, and she told me to stay put while she went to save you. Then, my entire body grew cold. I was freezing, and suddenly, I stopped feeling. My mind just went empty, and I didn't think or feel anything. I tried to think about my parents, about my friends, about you and Audrey, but everything just faded away, getting murkier and murkier in my mind till it felt like none of it happened. Then I heard the storm."

"The rain?" Roman asked.

"Not just the rain, the thunder, the lightning. Audrey's lightning. I knew she was doing it, I could sense her. I followed the lightning and found you, collapsed in the middle of the street with like twenty degree burns."

"There aren't that many degrees of burns, but I get your point. How did you get me to my house though? How did you know where to go?"

"I hear talking!" a deep familiar voice called from outside the room.

"Does that mean he's awake now?!"

Caitlyn looked over to the door, but didn't say a word.

"Yeah Barry!" Roman shouted. "I'm awake!"

Barry ran halfway into the room before stopping dead in his tracks, eyeing Caitlyn.

"Caitlyn, this is Barry, the fastest man alive."

Barry was too busy glaring at Caitlyn to acknowledge the joke.

She ignored him and answered Roman's question.

"I reached into your pocket and pulled out your phone. It was charred to bits, but the sim card was still intact. I put it in my dad's phone and called two of your friends. They helped me take you home."

"Until she spontaneously aged ten years, developed black eyes and kicked us out of your room." said Barry, accusingly.

"Relax Barry," said Roman, yawning and stretching.

"She's just a child."

"Where?!" Barry motioned at Caitlyn.

"Her childhood disappeared last night!"

"Bee, I told you to leave her alone!" said a female voice, coming towards the room.

"Claire?" Roman asked.

Claire walked into the room.

"Roman!" She squealed.

He barely had time to get out of the bed before she smothered him with a hug.

"Look at you! You're complete healed!"

"Of course Claire, I'm a vampire."

"I know but you don't normally heal fast with big injuries like that."

"You're right." Roman decided to keep the heart thing to himself. He still had fangs, and he was still hungry, aching for blood, so it couldn't have meant much.

"Okay, now give us the full details! We tried asking Caitlyn but she hit puberty like a nuclear missile and went mute."

Roman studied Caitlyn.

"I can't speak on her aging process, but she'll regain emotions after drinking blood again. But before I get into the story, there's just one thing I need to know."

"What is it?" asked Barry.

"Which one of you dressed me?"


	9. Willa

"So she just vanished into thin air like that?" Claire spoke, shocked.

"Yup, and I was left in the middle of the street, sizzling like a strip of bacon. "

Everyone had gathered downstairs around Roman's dining room table, waiting for Claire to prepare breakfast. Caitlyn sat quietly while Barry hummed to the music playing through his headphones. Roman was staring at Caitlyn intently, so much so that Claire called him out when she came back with breakfast.

"Stop goggling at her, Roman, she's not an alien."

She sat down paper plates filled when pancakes, bacon, eggs, and biscuits. Roman acted as if he didn't hear her earlier comment and reached for a plate, but she slapped his hand away.

"Do you see this food? Guess where it came from. I'll give you a hint. It wasn't in your fridge."

Roman didn't understand what she meant. "The... store?" He replied, confused.

"Yeah, the store. I opened your fridge last night, and you have nothing in it but milk. What's wrong with you?"

Roman shrugged. "Eating regular food is more for pleasure than an actual necessity, so I don't buy much."

"Well, I bought it when you were asleep so we could all eat when you woke up. What are you supposed to say?"

"I'll pay you back?" He tried.

Claire smiled. "I was expecting a thank you but that works too."

Barry took his headphones out and grabbed utensils.

"Come on, hurry up, I'm starving."

Claire walked right past him and offered Caitlyn a plate.

"Do you want anything to eat? Something to drink?"

"No." Caitlyn replied bluntly. "It smells disgusting."

Barry reached out and grabbed that plate while Roman stood up.

"Don't get offended by that Claire, she's new. She's a fledgling, and hasn't tasted any normal human blood. Until she does, everything tastes and smells like garbage to her."

"Well, when are you going to help her?" Claire asked, sitting down at the table.

"You can't just keep her here."

"Why not?" said Barry, with a mouth full of pancakes.

"She looks like she's about 20 years old... Oh. Nevermind."

"That's right, idiot." Claire retorted.

"She only looks like that. She's just a little girl."

"I'm going to teach her how to hunt, then I'll take her to corporate so they can help her build a new life."

"Losing your mother and father on the same night. I can't even begin to understand how that feels." said Claire, feeling sympathy for Caitlyn.

She reached out to hold Caitlyn's hand, but Caitlyn gave her a very confused look and pulled away.

"Unfortunately, neither can she." Roman replied, clearing his plate.

"I had to subdue her emotions to stop her from killing me."

Claire turned around, appalled. "What _else_ happened to you last night."

Roman tried to think. "I got kicked out of my favorite bar and that lightning witch told me she was a goddess."

Barry laughed. "Goddess of what?"

"I don't know, and neither did she. She just mentioned she was a Greek goddess."

Claire nearly spat out her drink.

"Yeah," Roman chuckled a little. "It is ridiculous."

"No it's not! She could be the daughter of Zeus!"

Everyone, including Caitlyn, looked at her like she was stupid.

"Don't tell me you believe crap like that." said Barry, getting up to clean his own area.

"Just listen to me. Roman, did you believe in vampires before you were attacked?"

"I was seven. I believed in Santa, The Tooth Fairy, and SpongeBob SquarePants back then."

"What about you Barry? Did you believe in werewolves before you were bitten?"

"No. I didn't."

"Exactly! So vampire bite, werewolf bite, and lightning strike! Anything is possible."

"Well, when you put it like that... I still don't believe." said Barry, walking towards the door.

"Now that we know you aren't dying, I can go to work. Call me if anything else happens."

"I will." said Roman popping his neck.

"Caitlyn, I'm going to show you how to hunt like a vampire. I'll teach you how to hunt humans and animals, but I'm mostly going to focus on animals because we can survive off of their blood and newly turned vampires aren't good at controlling urges. Plus, hiding and disposing of human bodies is too much work."

Caitlyn quietly got up from her seat and followed Roman to the door.

He watched her expression while she moved.

"I promise, you'll feel back to normal soon. I hope."

Just as he turned the door handle, the doorbell rang. Roman froze.

"If that's Barry, he left his keys!" Claire yelled from the kitchen.

"It's not Barry." Roman said quietly, so quiet only Caitlyn could hear.

"This smell... This scent... It reminds me of-"

"I don't like it when people keep me waiting." called a woman from behind the door.

"Either you open this door, or I will. You're going to need to hear what I have to say."

††††††††††††††

Audrey kneeled at the foot of her father with a young man next to her. Her mortal clothes gone, she now wore silky white linen and was adorned in gold from her neck, to her wrists, and to her ankles. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with golden strings weaved into it. She had no idea how she got these clothes. She just appeared before her father in a flash of burning light.

Her father sat upon a gigantic throne and he himself was ten times the size of a normal human. The room they were in seemed endless from both sides, and the ceiling so high it might as well have been the night sky. Next to her father was a woman in a throne similar to his, and they were surrounded by smaller thrones in all sides.

"How," her father bellowed. "How could you disgrace us like this?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but the man next to her tapped her wrist.

"Not yet." He whispered.

"Your blood, my blood, running through the veins of some demon. Do you know what you've done?"

"I didn't do anything!" She pleaded.

"No!" The man muttered.

"You said there, while the demon itself told you to run. Why is that?"

Audrey kept her silence.

"You can speak now." The man muttered.

"I, I don't know." She admitted. "Maybe it casted some type of spell on me, in some way."

"Good cover." The man whispered.

"Shut up." She said through gritted teeth.

"Whatever the case, he's different now. Ichor has changed him, and I can't let that stand."

"Why was I shocked with lightning too? I'm your daughter!"

"One... Of many." The woman sighed. She said it loud enough for everyone to here but didn't make eye contact with any of them. Audrey's father paused for a few seconds before answering.

"Because that's how they transfer their damnable curse, through biting their victims. I had to purify you of that evil."

"Purify me how? By killing me?!" She screamed, standing up, furious. The man kneeling next to her urged her to kneel again, but she refused. "You can't kill me a second time!"

"You'd be surprised." He said menacingly, standing up. Now, she barely reached his knee.

"Zeus," said the woman next to him. "Control your temper."

Zeus huffed and sat back down.

"Anteria-" he started.

"That's not my name. That. Is. Not. My _Name._ "

"Fine." He sighed. "Willa, don't make this mistake again." He looked over to the young man still kneeling.

"Wilhem," he called.

"Yes, Lord?"

"Watch your sister closely. Make sure doesn't go near any monster again, or there will be hell to pay, floor the both of you."

"Of course, Lord."

"Now I have to find out how to murder this demon thing, because my bolt didn't kill him.

"It didn't?" said Willa, astonished.

"No..." said Zeus, bothered by her reaction to that news. I'll send a servant or a minor god to see to his execution immediately."

"No! You can't kill him!"

"And why exactly," Zeus stroked his beard. "Can I not?"

"Because, because, he's... Special! He was a vampire, but he survived your bolt right? After drinking my blood. I killed four other vampires, burnt them to ash, that same night. And I'm nowhere near as strong as you. That means there's something special about him."

"You're right." Zeus replied, gazing off into a far away place. "This means I need to kill him as soon as possible.

"No! Father please!" Willa pleaded.

"Wilhem, get her out of my sight."

"No." said the woman by Zeus' side. "I want a word with my stepdaughter, alone."

Zeus eyed her quietly, trying to guess her motives. She smiled sweetly and waved him off.

"Fine." He grumbled again, and stood up faster than the first time. Sparks and lightning surrounded his feet and circled up his legs till it had reached the top of his head. Then, in an explosion of energy, Zeus was gone, making everyone's hair stand up on end.

"Ugh, he makes me so mad," the woman muttered combing through her hair with her fingers. "Ruining my hair for nothing."

She stopped grooming herself and stared at Wilhem, who stood next to Willa, quietly.

"Why are you still in my sight? Leave, Boy. I will send her your way when I'm done."

Wilhem glared at her before bowing stiffly.

"Yes." Wilhem replied. "As you wish, Hera."


	10. Warnings

A woman in a long blue dress with we the door. She was carrying a matching purse in her right hand and a pair of sunglasses in the left.

"Took you long enough," she rolled her eyes. "I'm not the one you should be scared of, you know."

"You." Roman started, backing up from the door. "You smell, your scent, you're just like the girl from yesterday."

"You mean Willa? I'm much more powerful than that, sweetie. Hi Caitlyn!" She looked over his shoulder and smiled at Caitlyn, who didn't respond.

Roman whipped around. "Caitlyn, you know her?"

Caitlyn shook her head.

"She doesn't know me, but I've known her since before she was born. Your father promised you to me before you were born."

"What do you mean he promised her to you? Who are you?" Roman demanded.

"My name is Aphrodite." she said grinning. "I know you're not a believer honey, but I'm sure you've heard it before."

Roman said nothing and watched her, silently.

"You know, I had almost forgotten about Caitlyn till you and Willa came into contact with her. She has a powerful presence, especially for the daughter of Zeus."

"Willa... You mean Audrey? So she wasn't lying about being a goddess?"

"Hm? No, but she lied about the name, obviously." Aphrodite giggled.

"I can reverse this," she motioned to Caitlyn's body. "If you want me to." I had to make sure she was one of the girls I had chosen to be my maidens. There's no need for her to look like this, for now at least. Her emotional state though, I think that was your problem."

She made a flicking motion with her wrist and Roman, against his will, moved aside. She put her hands on Caitlyn's shoulders and Caitlyn's skin illuminated a bright white light, till she was too bright to stare at directly.

When the light faded, Caitlyn was a child again, almost exactly how Roman had seen her last night, besides her completely black eyes and deadpan expression. Claire walked towards them from the kitchen, and squealed when she saw Caitlyn as a child again.

She ran over and touched Caitlyn's face and arms, examining her all over.

"I am-" Aphrodite began.

"Yeah, yeah, a goddess, I know. I was right!"

Roman was surprised she didn't get upset about being cut off.

"If that's all you came for, you can go now." Roman said, nervously.

"This isn't why I'm here boy, but I will be taking her from you sooner or later. Being a vampire is... How should I say this politely? Disgusting. I'm here to warn you. Attacking Willa?" She laughed. "That was the biggest mistake you've ever made."

"I told her to run." He started explaining. "I told her to get away from me!"

"And She didn't. Possibly because she may have been infatuated with you. Nevertheless, when you bit her, our ichor started coursing through your veins. You can't even _begin_ to understand the scope our blood, our powers and our immortality. He tried to look you once, last night. That fact that you're standing here is a huge problem."

"That was Zeus? I thought Audrey struck me with lightning. "

Aphrodite shook her head. "Willa was struck by it too. There's no way it was meant to harm her, but it was surely meant to kill you."

Knowing that the Audrey, or Willa hadn't tried to kill him put a small smile on his face, and he wasn't sure why.

"I was already immortal, in the vampire sense. After biting Audrey, or as you said... Willa, my heart started beating again. I felt more powerful, more energized, than I had ever felt before."

Aphrodite's expression changed.

"Zeus is going to scatter your ashes over animal feces. You don't have long, _vampire_." She sneered and walked out the door.

†††††††††††††

"Even I have to admit, I don't like you consorting with demons." Hera told Willa.

"He's not a demon, he's a vampire." Willa responded. Hera was no longer huge and they were walking together slowly past the twelve giant thrones above their heads. Torches in the room lit up as they walked past them, but the throne room stayed dark for the most part.

"Vampire, demon, monster, there's not much of a difference. He's from the modern world. Now, you yourself are pretty young. You've never seen an _empusa_ , but let me tell you, they're too similar to be dealing with."

"I don't see him as evil. He cried for that little girl before going to save her father. There must be some good in him."

"You like him, don't you?" Aphrodite stopped moving.

Willa looked away.

"There are so many other mortals on Earth, why would you choose-"

"I don't _want_ a mortal." Willa said, frustrated. "I want someone that lives long, if not forever, just like we can. I want love that won't end in death."

"There are more gods on Olympus than you may realize dear, plenty of potential suitors."

"I don't want a god. We're all so connected and intertwined, it's so confusing. Many are egotistical maniacs over the little things they command. I just want to find my happiness elsewhere, that's all."

Aphrodite smiled. "I could speak to Aphrodite, maybe she could help you find someone else." Judging by Willa's reaction, Hera could tell Willa disagreed with that option. She sighed, smiling. "You're so different, Willa, that's what I like about you. Any other god would have a fling with some mortal, but you're better than that. You're one of the few daughters of Zeus I actually care for. That aren't my own, that is. I'm glad I made you a goddess."

"Thank you for giving me a second chance." Willa said crying.

Hera hugged her tightly. "Thank you for teaching Zeus a lesson. He can't keep using an abusing mortals. Sooner or later, they will all rise against him."

"What am I supposed to do now? He's going to kill Roman!"

"Roman... Is this vampire's name? Interesting." said Aphrodite, thinking to herself.

"You could warn him, try to get him somewhere safe. We didn't pay much attention to the newer evolutions of monsters and their supernatural auras. He could potentially hide if he surrounded himself in the right crowd. But it won't be easy. Remember, this thing is walking around with the blood of the gods in it's veins. That embarrasses Zeus. That's why the palace is empty right now, that's why it's so dark. He sent them all away so we could speak to you alone. Zeus is not the only god worried about this. All eyes are watching this situation unfold."

"I'll do whatever it takes." said Willa, determined. "I'll save him."

"You better hope so."


	11. Not Like You

"What are we going to do about her warning? " said Claire.

"What do you mean? We aren't going to do anything." Roman had decided to wait till dark to take Caitlyn hunting, so they hung out in his living room. Claire sat next to Roman say cross-legged on the floor, watching a horror flick.

"It just seems to me like we should make a peace offering or something, to appease them-"

"Appease them? Are you serious? Look at me. " Roman gestured to his entire body.

"I'm still living am I not? I'm breathing, I'm thinking, and guess what? My hearts actually beating again! And I'm still a vampire!"

"How do you know you're still a vampire?" Claire asked.

"I still feel it. The urge for blood. My senses are still strong, and I still have fangs. In fact, they're throbbing in pain right now. So I'm either still a vampire or I'm high on drugs."

"Aphrodite doesn't want her to hunt and become a vampire." Claire looked at Caitlyn. "What do we do about that? "

"We can't help that. She was bitten. She has two choices. Either drink blood and recover her emotions, or wither to nothing. Alive, and in pain, unable to move, craving blood and nothing else. Which one would you prefer Caitlyn?"

Caitlyn didn't move. "The first one."

"See?" said Roman. "There you go. And I'm not worried about these 'gods'. She said Zeus hit me with that bolt, not Willa. If that's the case, Zeus can't be a threat. I'm alive and in great shape."

"If you say so. " Claire smiled. "I could stay here for a little while longer, if you want. "

"No, you should go home and get some rest, I've worried you enough. When it's dark out I'll show her how to hunt. I'll call you or text if anything interesting happens."

Claire's eyes widened. "Anything like what? "

"Oh I don't know, Caitlyn flying, another god showing up, Zeus shoving his foot up my-"

"Okay, okay, I've heard enough. " She laughed. "You should do a little research on those gods though. Greek mythology is amazing."

"Doesn't seem like a myth anymore. " Roman muttered as he opened the door for her.

A few hours later, Roman woke up from a nap. He hadn't researched any of the gods like Claire suggested. It wasn't worth his time. If he wanted to know anything about them, he'd ask her. He looked over to Caitlyn, who had also fallen asleep. She looked so cute and quiet. He almost wandered what she was dreaming about, but then he remembered. She isn't dreaming about anything. How dreams, no emotions. He was going to fix that. Tonight.

"Hey, Caitlyn, wake up." He said softly. He gently nudged her until she sat up and yawned, wiping her eyes. She blinked a couple times and looked at him. They were still as black as ever.

 _Ugh._ Roman thought. _The cuteness is gone._

"Now that it's nighttime, I can show you how to hunt with a lot less precaution. We still need to be careful, but most people wandering around this late have nothing to live for anyways."

"I don't want to hunt. " Caitlyn replied.

"What? Why not? " said Roman, puzzled. He expected her to just go through the motions until she drank her first blood.

"That woman, Aphrodite, she came to me in a dream. She promised I could have whatever I wanted if I join her. She even said I could get revenge on the people that attacked us."

"That was just a dream Caitlyn. Audrey, I mean Willa, already killed all of them. She blasted them to ashes."

"She killed my daddy too." Caitlyn replied. There was no emotion behind it, no anger out sadness. She said it as though it was just a fact."

"Yeah, she did. And I'm sorry about that. But right now, our focus should be on helping you. I don't know how you were able to actually dream, but it was just a trick of your mind. We need to get you blood."

"It wasn't just a dream. She gave me this. " Caitlyn held up her arm revealing dozens of rings of golden jewelry.

Roman's heart skipped a beat, literally.  
"You don't have to hunt, but I want to to come with me while I hunt. It could change your mind ." He held out his hand and she grabbed it, but instead of helping her up he took a picture of her new jewelry. "I'm going to send this to Claire." he explained.

They stepped outside and it was just as cold as it was the night before.

"Where are we going?" Caitlyn asked.

"I don't even know. We'll just walk until someone crosses our path. That's what I normally do around this time. "

"You sound lonely." She replied. "And boring. "

Roman chuckled. "I'm not lonely. You just saw my real friends. As for boring, you might be right. I don't do much. Tell me about your they jewelery. Tell me about your dream."

Caitlyn kept waking forward as if he hasn't spoken.

"Hey, come on. It's not like she told you to keep it a secret from me." They walked about ten feet before he realized that might've actually happened.

"Did she?"

Caitlyn turned and shook her head. "The dream was weird and confusing. I woke up in a garden, just laying on the ground. Beautiful flowers and cool shaped bushes were everywhere."

"Cool shaped bushes?" Roman inquired, amused.

"Yeah. It was almost like a maze, I didn't know where to go. The flowers were so pretty, I wasn't thinking about anything else until I found a big water fountain. A bunch of women were sitting around it and they were eating all kinds of fruit, talking and laughing. They were wearing thin white robes and had on all types of jewelery, covering their arms, neck, ankles and fingers."

"Did they talk to you?" asked Roman.

"No. I was hiding in bushes were they couldn't see me. But Aphrodite appeared in front of them, and the flowers trees and plants all leaned toward her, like they were trying to touch her. She took off her bracelets and told me to become one of her maidens."

"Did she say anything about me?" Roman asked.

"She said not to listen to you. She told me not to harm anyone, and that she'll come for me soon. How long do you think that'll take?" She turned and asked him.

He looked at her and stopped walking.  
"Your eyes, they're normal again."

Caitlyn pulled off one of the golden bands on her arm and held it up to her face. Within seconds it began to glow. Caitlyn stepped away from Roman so he wouldn't see.

"What's going on?" He asked. "What did you see? "

The bright light faded to nothing, and she turned toward him, tears sliding down her cheek.

"I don't want to be like you."

Out of seemingly nowhere,. Aphrodite appeared and brushed past Roman. Her body was shimmering and translucent.

"That's what I was waiting for!" Aphrodite exclaimed, gleaming. She took the bracelet from Caitlyn's hands and threw it behind her for Roman to catch. He caught it one handedly and stared. The bracelet showed an image he instantly recognized. It was the vampires from yesterday, attacking Caitlyn's father and mother. Then it flipped to other vampires, ones she had never seen before, all attacking and killing dozens of people. Then it showed Roman himself, getting attacked by a vampire at seven, and people he went on to attack after that happened to him. Finally, the image disappeared and the bracelet went back to normal.

"You may be part of his prophecy, but you do not have to endure the same curse. I'm not here physically, but whenever you need assistance, I'll be there." Aphrodite became a beacon of light that enveloped Caitlyn entirely.

"Wait! What are you talking about?! What's a prophecy?" Roman reached out to grab hold of the light, but there was some invisible force stopping his hand from touching. When the light was gone, Caitlyn was smiling. She had more makeup than a middle schooler should ever be allowed to touch. Her ears were pierced and both of her arms were decked with jewelry. She even had three rings on one hand.

She took one of the bracelets off to look at herself again, and the one in Roman's hand was gone.

"Roman look at me! I look amazing!"

"Yes you do." Roman agreed, grinning. "And you actually sound happy about it."

"I am." She kept smiling. When she realized what he meant, her eyes widened. "I am. I am happy about it. My emotions are back!"

She jumped up and Roman caught her in his arms, giving her a hug.

"That's... great." He replied, but he didn't sound so sure. "I thought she said that was my problem to fix. And do you know anything about the prophecy she mentioned?" He sat her down softly.

"No." she frowned, getting upset. "Aren't you happy for me?"

"Of course I am! Of course!" Roman playfully shook her shoulders. He didn't expect any of this. Had she gotten her emotions back the vampire way, the first and only thing she would be doing would be grieving for her parents. This is a much better outcome for her, but it just put more weight on Roman's shoulders.

When would Aphrodite take Caitlyn? What's in his prophecy, and when will the gods that want to kill him finally appear?


	12. Energy

"As pretty as you look right now, little girls shouldn't be wearing this much makeup." Roman crouched down and began to wipe the makeup off Caitlyn's face. He was surprised she was willingly letting him do it.

"I kind of thought you'd squirm away." He replied, cracking a smile.

"I don't need to. She was magical, and this is magic makeup, so I bet it'll come back all by itself."

Roman thought about that for a second.

"God I hope not. I can't keep walking around with a four foot tall fashion model."

She laughed and Roman looked at her smile. Then, to her surprise, he put his hand on her face and held her mouth open.

"Move!" She pulled away. "What are you doing?"  
He put this index finger on her upper teeth, feeling the ones in the front.

"No fangs." He murmured. "I don't know how, but I think Aphrodite cured your vampirism."

"Are you sure? " Caitlyn asked him, getting serious. Even with his superior sense of smell, he couldn't tell the difference between her now and then.

"You tell me. " He replied. "Are you still hungry? Are you thinking about blood? Do you have any stomach problems right now? "

"No." She answered. "Not at all."

"Interesting. I wonder why she didn't change your clothes into whatever her maidens wear."

"Their clothes were thin and see through." Caitlyn replied.

"I guess it's a good thing she didn't then. " Roman laughed. A strong gust of wind hit them, and Caitlyn shivered.

"Let's go back to my house and warm up. I'll hunt while you're asleep." They turned to walk home and Roman instantly felt a huge sense of dread. He felt like he was in some sort of danger, and he didn't know why. He stopped walking for a second and looked around. There was nothing to see. Cars passed but he was sure nobody was watching him. The anxiety started to ease until Caitlyn noticed he wasn't walking behind her anymore.

"What are you looking for? Do you see something?" She called out to him, about twenty feet away.

"Nothing. I just got distracted. " Roman jogged to catch up to her, and just like that, the panic and fear built back up into his chest. He started to sweat and his pulse quickened before he even caught up to her.

 _It's her!_ He realized, slowing down.  
 _She's giving off some weird energy, almost like the one that stopped me from touching Aphrodite's light. Why did Aphrodite do this?_

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, concerned.

Roman didn't explain at all. "We need to get home." He told her.

Roman had two other bedrooms in house besides his own, but she chose to sleep in the living room because it had the biggest tv. He gave her a shirt and some shrunken gym shorts to wear as pajamas while he washed her clothes.

"What's your favorite color Caitlyn?" He asked.

"Green." Caitlyn replied, keeping her eyes glued to the television.

Roman tapped a few buttons on his phone and suddenly, all the lamps in his living room turned green.

"Whoa!" She said, amazed. "How did you do that?"

Roman waved his phone. "With an app and some very expensive lightbulbs."

He walked towards the kitchen and opened the fridge. There was practically nothing in there. He wished Claire had bought more food. He went over to his pantry and pulled out bags of chips and chocolate bars.

"Since you aren't a vampire anymore you're going to need some real food. But since I don't have any, you'll have to settle on junk food for tonight, is that okay?"

"Yes!" She screamed, elated. "I don't think I've ever eaten this stuff this late!"

Roman thought about her parents, and what they would've probably given her. It was almost one in the morning, there was no way they would even let her be up this hour. He walked down the hallway heading to his room, briefly stopping to turn up the thermostat. Sitting on the edge of his bed, Roman unlocked his phone and walked to his room. He had to talk to Claire. He didn't know what to do anymore.

Before he could say hello, an angry Claire snapped through. "What did I tell you about calling this late?!" She shouted.

He pulled the phone away from his head but he was sure she already busted his eardrum.  
"Dang, I'm not calling you for whatever you're thinking! It's about Caitlyn!"

Silence.

"What?" She demanded, sounding drowsy.

"The goddess Aphrodite reappeared and... I don't know exactly, I think she claimed Caitlyn and got rid of her vampirism."

"Are you serious?!" said Claire, now sounding more alert.

"Yeah. We didn't even go hunting. Her eyes are normal, her emotions are back, and she seems to be acting like a regular kid."

"That poor girl. She most be bawling her eyes at right now."

"No, she isn't. That's one of the things that creeping me out. That, and she has some type of energy, or aura, around her. It feels like Aphrodite."

"And you said Aphrodite cured her vampirism?"

"Yeah. That's what it looks like. That means I can't take her to vampire council. We don't know when or if Aphrodite will take her. What am I supposed to do?"

"We'll figure it out." Claire yawned.

"She can't stay here. I'm too young to be taking care of other people. "

"We'll find a solution, okay? Now let me sleep. I'll come over in the morning." She hung up before he could respond. Irritated, he threw the phone and it slid off the other side of the bed. He laid back and closed his eyes, listening to Caitlyn laughing in the living room. It felt like he had a hole in his stomach. His fangs had sank into his bottom lip, but he didn't mind. That pain helped him focus.

 _I can't wait any longer._ He thought. _I'll just become a bat and fly out the window. I'll be back before she notices._

Roman went to change into some throwaway clothes. He had no intentions of clean kill. He needed something he could easily dispose of. He opened the closet door and reached in, but he felt something approach him.

"What Caitlyn?" He asked, assuming it was her. "I changed my mind. I'm not going to wait till you fall asleep, but I'll be right back I prom-"

He turned around, but she wasn't there. He heard her laughing about something else in the living room. Walking away from the closet, he stepped slowly towards his door.

 _This Aphrodite crap has me paranoid now. There's nothing in my house._

He thought right before something leaped on his back and pinned his hands to his sides.


	13. Night Visits

Roman ran backwards, slamming his assailant into the wall. He turned around, ready to shred it to pieces, when it spoke.

"Ow! Calm down! Have you lost your mind?!"  
That voice.

Roman backed up and turned on the lights in his room. Standing next to his closet, rubbing her arm, was Audrey. Or as Aphrodite told him, Willa.

"How did you find my house?" He demanded. "Why are you here?"

She looked hurt.

"I came to warm you. My father wants you dead."

"Audrey!" Caitlyn shrieked, appearing out of nowhere. She ran past Roman and gave her a hug.

Roman didn't share the sentiment.

"Her name isn't Audrey, Caitlyn. It's Willa. And we already know. Aphrodite told us."

"Aphrodite? She's here already?!" Willa pulled Caitlyn off of her and ran in the closet.

"No she's not here. But she visited twice. She said something about Caitlyn's parents, and them giving Caitlyn to her."

Willa peeked out and Caitlyn showed her the bracelets.  
"You're going to be a maiden? That's amazing. I thought you had to reach maturity before you could become one though."

"Maybe that's why she hasn't taken her." Roman thought aloud.

"You sound disappointed. What's wrong?" Willa and Caitlyn both stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"What scares you about Aphrodite?" He replied. "She didn't seem that menacing to us."

"I'm not scared of her, but she could tell Zeus I was with you. He forbid me from seeing you."

"And yet, here you are."

"Because they are coming for you, Zeus and the others! The oracle has shown them something, something they wouldn't even tell me. You have a dark and twisted prophecy. So dark that the highest gods are coming to eliminate you."

Roman's expression dropped.  
"And you... You don't know anything about it?"

"No. I told you they won't tell me."

"Why don't you ask the oracle yourself? Or, take me to it?"

"We need to get you out of here first! The gods are coming!" said Willa, exasperated.  
Roman smiled and backed out the room. Caitlyn and Willa followed him.

"So when they show up, what exactly are they going to do?" He entered the living room, grabbed the remote and turned the volume all the way up.

"Are they going to jump me? Throw fireballs at me? Blast me with lightning... _again?_ " Roman laughed started flipping on all the lights.  
"I don't know much about Greek mythology, but I know Zeus is like the king of the gods. If he tried to kill me once, and failed, what do I have to be scared of? I say let them come invite them in. Hell, I'll order a pizza." Roman laughed some more. "Let's have a movie night!"

"You need to take this seriously!" Willa demanded, frustrated. Roman's phone rang and he motioned her to be silent while he answered.

"Shh, it's Barry. What's up?" Roman walked to the kitchen and grabbed a box of popcorn out the pantry. "Wait, what?" Roman left the kitchen and went towards the front door.

"What did he say?" asked Caitlyn.

"There's people outside. On my lawn. Right now." said Roman, looking through the peephole.  
Willa rushed forward and shoved him aside. She looked for barely a second before ducking down.

"That's them!" She said in a hushed whisper.

"No! Barry do not attack them. They're connected to that girl I told you about earlier. From last night."

Willa was close enough to Roman to hear what Barry said on the phone. "You _literally_ have gods at your doorstep!"

"Uh, yeah. Maybe. I'm not sure if that's what they are but you do not need to get near my house. Where are you?"

"Across the street. I was out running and I saw them."

"Stay away. I'll update you tomorrow morning."

"Fine. Be careful man. If anything happens, I'll split your possessions with Claire." Barry hung up the phone.

Roman smiled to himself and put his phone in his pocket.

"We need to leave, now!" Willa urged.

"I know. So here's how we'll do this. I'll scope out the back while you-"

Everyone jumped as something loud shattered in the distance.

"What was that?" asked Caitlyn. Willa could've sworn Roman's ears actually twitched.

"That was the back door. Something's inside." He replied, eyes darkening. They looked like dark, glistening pools of oil, and he bared his fangs as he snarled.

"No! We aren't fighting here! Grab my hand!" Willa said to Caitlyn. She had already grabbed Roman's hand and pulled him back forcefully. He was surprised by her strong grip, but after thinking about it, he realized he shouldn't be.

"You can teleport?!" Caitlyn asked her, bewildered.

"Only to my home. You'll feel a tingling sensation, and it may burn a little, but it's only for a second."

"This better be quick." Roman muttered, eyes reverting to normal.

Roman's right arm grew warm in Willa's grip. It suddenly got very tingling and started to vibrate. Willa kept her grip tight.

"It will be, but it could be scary for your first time, so it's better to close your eyes. It'll end almost as soon as it begins." Willa explained to them.

Caitlyn closed her eyes immediately but Roman chose to keep his open.

"I want to see what this looks like. What it feels like."

Willa nodded and closed her eyes. The tingling sensation spread everywhere, down their arms and legs, running through their spines. Roman kept his eyes open but it was pointless. The world went completely dark as they teleported. Everything grew cold and their surroundings simply vanished from existence. Suddenly, everyone was soaking wet and it smelled like rain. It did not rain, not naturally. It was as if someone poured a bucket of water on the three of them. Just when the tingling sensation began to burn, Willa said, "You can open your eyes now."

Roman blinked several times, bewildered. "What? I thought I had my eyes open!"

Willa laughed. "It's impossible to keep them open."

Roman leaned against the white marble wall she was standing and rubbed his eyes, blinking away spots.

"Whoa!" Caitlyn exclaimed, examining the room. The room they were in was bigger than anything she had ever seen. Bigger than a church, a football field, or even an entire stadium. The floor and walls were both made of white marble, and huge torches twice the size of normal people lit the room. The ceiling was lit with three chandeliers but it was so high up they didn't look like they were even connected to the ceiling.

"Willa..." Roman began, staring in awe just like Caitlyn. "This better _Not_ be what I think it is." 


	14. Doggy Door

Hidden across the street behind a truck, Barry watched the people standing in front of Roman's house. He'd been watching them for ten minutes and there was nothing godly about them. They stood completely still. Were they planning to rob Roman or attack him? Barry had no clue. He tried calling Roman again. This time, Roman didn't answer.

"Seriously?" He muttered to himself. "Your phone better be dead, man." He began to put this phone back in his pocket when he heard glass shatter from across the street. Barry instantly got to his feet but the people were gone.

"Crap." He ran over to the front door, and turned the handle. It was locked. He checked the windows. The lights were still on and he heard something loud, but he didn't detect any movement. Running around the back, Barry saw that the back door window had been broken, but it was still locked.

 _They must have thrown a grenade in or something._ He thought. He stuck his hand through the opening and let himself inside.

"Hey Roman! Are you still here? Are you okay?" Barry shouted. He waited a moment, but didn't receive a response. There was a wide open cabinet and an uncooked bag of popcorn on the counter. The loud noise was the tv in the living room.

 _People don't just disappear like this. Not even vampires. He could've turned into a bat and flew away, but he had that child with him. He wouldn't leave her, would he?_

Barry would like to think he knew Roman to be better than that, but he wasn't entirely sure. He picked up the remote and turned off the tv. He sniffed the air. No human beings besides himself. He could pick up on Roman and the kid's scent, but that was obvious. Somebody else was here, but Barry couldn't tell if they were here with Roman, or if they came after him. They might have even taken him with them. Barry continued searching the house until he reached the hallway. This time, he could hear movement. Slowly, he made his way down the hallway, pausing once to inspect the bathroom.  
There were two more rooms; the guest room and Roman's. The guest room was always locked, even when Roman let Barry stay over. Sleeping in the living room was fine for Barry though, considering all of the times he's ruined Roman's furniture before during the full moon.

Roman's bedroom door was wide open, his bed undone. There was a huge dent in the wall near the closet, like a bull had run into it. That wasn't even the weirdest thing. Right in front of Roman's tv stand was a huge black statue of a dog facing away from him. Roman likes creepy things, but he isn't that big on decoration.

Barry entered the room and checked under the bed. Finding nothing, he got up and walked past the dog statue examining the dent in the wall. Whoever hit it was not Roman, so this was most likely the sign of a struggle. Something felt off at the whole room. Someone was watching him. Something was in here. He turned towards the dog statue again and bent down for a closer look.

The statue had lots of detail, especially around the dog's mouth and eyes. The dog was shiny and black, with a matching flat pedestal to stand it up. Barry placed his hand on it's head and it was cool to the touch. It felt like ceramic.

"I'm wasting my time playing with decorations. " Barry muttered.

He turned back towards the closet and opened it slowly. Nothing jumped out. Turning on his flashlight to get a good look, he began to search thoroughly through all of Roman's clothes.

"He should let me borrow some of this." Barry mumbled, standing to his feet. He looked around, and the dog statue was gone.

"I knew something was wrong with it!" He scolded himself as he ran out the room.

He ran through the living room past the kitchen, straight towards the back door. Sure enough, the huge greyhound was there, getting ready to jump through the window.

"HEY! DON'T MOVE!" He shouted at the creature. It didn't look the same as it had before. Now it looked alive, a living and breathing animal. Flesh, fur and blood instead of the cool ceramic he had felt earlier. It reared its head at him and barked viciously. It's eyes glowed and it's fur began to change. Within seconds it slammed into Barry, knocking him off his feet. He looked up and the beast towered over him, a massive Saint Bernard with drool dripping onto his chest.

Barry raised his arm right as the dog attacked. It sunk his teeth into his arm and began to run, dragging Barry through Roman's house. Barry fought back and struggled, but something about this creature was unnaturally powerful. Even with his werewolf strength, Barry couldn't free himself. Fortunately, for some reason the beast stopped and threw Barry like a frisbee. He landed in the chimney directly on his already injured arm, snapping it like a piece of bamboo. He screamed in pain but quickly rolled away from the fireplace, trying to recover as fast as possible. He could feel his hair growing everywhere, teeth clicking and jaw structure changing. His arm snapped back and he started to get back on his feet.

" _I'm gonna rip you half you fucking demon dog!_ " Barry roared, letting his animal instincts take over. Running on all fours, Barry leaped over the couch and growled, his teeth gritting against each other. The beast was facing the opposite direction, looking at something down the hallway.

"TURN AROUND!" Barry roared, his voice hardly distinguishable from a bark. Barry readied himself to pounce when he noticed a weird presence in front of the beast. Narrowing his eyes, he saw the faint glowing outline of a woman, in a dim silvery light. She was reaching down and petting the creature. Barry paused a second and put his anger in check. What was her looking at?

Barry slowly creeped closer as the woman began to speak.

"That wretched girl. She's protecting it. I'll let Zeus know about this." The creature whimpered and lowered is head. "It's not here anymore, but you'll find it, Laelaps. You always do."  
 _Laelaps?_ Barry thought. _What's that?_

Suddenly, the beast turned around howled at Barry, the sound so loud the entire house shook and his hair stood on end.

"Yes, get rid of that. It could be a problem later on."

The light around her grew brighter and brighter until she suddenly vanished. Barry and Beast eyed each other from the ends of the hallway, both waiting to attack.

 _Come at me._ Barry thought, charging forward. _I've fought worse._


	15. Hello, Oracle

"What on Earth were you thinking?!" Roman yelled. "Why the hell would you bring us here?!"

"What do you mean?" Willa responded, hurt. "I saved you."

"You brought us _directly_ to Zeus' place! That's what this is, isn't it? Olympus? I have no choice but to believe at this point."

"Yes, but-"

"Don't you think Zeus is going to come back here?"

"Yes, but I-"

"What about the other Gods after us? Hera, Artemis, Apollo. Couldn't they come back here any time at all?"

"Well yes, but-"

"Were you even thinking?! This is so stupid!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Willa screamed, furious.

Roman's face dropped. Caitlyn took a few steps back and bumped into someone, a man she had never seen before.

"I brought us here because Zeus can't track me, and I need my brother's help! You don't know anything about Zeus, or Olympus, or monsters. You don't know _jack shit,_ so don't ever question what I do, and don't _EVER_ call me stupid!"

"Okay..." said Wilhem, trying to slide into the conversation.

"How about we all take a minute to chill and cool off while you one introduce me to these... new people."

Willa took a deep breath and pointed at Caitlyn.

"That's Caitlyn. Caitlyn, Wilhem. Wilhem, Caitlyn."

"Hi." Caitlyn replied sheepishly, looking just as uncomfortable as Wilhem.

"And you are..." He turned to Roman.

"I'm Roman." He put on a smile and shook Wilhem's hand.

"I'm her brother."

"I figured " Roman gave a fake laugh to lighten the mood.

"Willa, can I speak to you privately for a second?" Wilhem asked her.

"Sure."

They waited until they were out of earshot.

"I actually agree with him. Why the hell would you bring them here?!"

"Because you can help me! I don't know what to do!" She replied, sliding down a wall.

"How am I supposed to help? Why is that child even here?" Wilhem looked exasperated.

"Long story, but she'll be a maiden of Aphrodite soon so don't worry about her.

"What about him? You can't hide him forever Willa. Zeus will find him. There's no escaping that."

"You don't know that. You aren't an Oracle." She replied, watching Caitlyn and Roman talk in the distance. They seemed to be playing some sort of hand game that made them slap each other.

"That's actually a good idea." Wilhem said, more or less to himself.

"Hmm?" She replied.

"Take him to the Oracle down the mountain. Her place will hide his presence because she's mortal too. You can find out his future. If his destined to die by Zeus' hand you can bring him back here tied up like a hog with a bow on his butt. If not, you can keep trying save him, but I won't continue to help you. Tonight's the last night I cover for you on this."

Willa jumped up and hugged him.

"Thank you!" She squealed.

"You're welcome. But I wouldn't get too attached. Trust me, he's more trouble than he's worth."

They walked back over to Roman, who, for some reason, was touching the floor.

"I feel like I don't belong here." He spoke as they got closer. "Look at us, we're like ants compared to these thrones. And Caitlyn has more energy than a car battery."

The little girl was running toward them, screaming numbers as she ran.

"Eighty Seven! Eighty eight! Eighty nine! Ninety!" She came to a halt, out of breath.

"Wow it only took you ninety seconds to get all the way back here?! Good job Caitlyn!"

"Nuh uh. I skipped a couple numbers I forgot. But I made it though." The smile on her face almost made them forget the situation they were in.

"Um, you guys need to go. Seriously.".  
"Yeah, you're right." Willa replied.

"Guys, we are going down the mountain. The Oracle will tell us if Zeus is going to kill you or not."

"What if he can't?" said Roman, nonchalantly. "It didn't work the last time."

"You underestimate him, Roman." said Wilhem. "If Zeus wants you dead, you will be."

Hours later, they were halfway down the mountain. The sky was a grayish white but there was no sun, no actual light source. There were dozens of houses along the mountain, but Willa told Roman they were the houses of extremely minor gods and other revered mystical creatures. Only one mortal actually lived on Olympus, and that was the Oracle. Looking at the temple from this distance and it was almost as huge as it felt on the inside. Caitlyn was piggyback riding with Roman, and she'd been asleep almost since they started the trek down.

"Okay look, I know I'm an adult, and I know I've already asked you a bunch about the mountain and everything, but..."

"Don't do it." She warned.

"Are we there yet?" He groaned, and flinched in anticipation.

"I thought you were going to hit me."

"I would have if you weren't holding Caitlyn. But it's right there, so be quiet."

A few feet under them was a big hutlike structure made out of wood and stone. All of the other houses on the mountain were made out of one material; some wood, some stone, and some marble. The door to the hut was completely black, and the doorknob was golden.

"Shouldn't we knock?" Roman asked, watching Willa patiently stare at the door.

"No. If what I've heard about her is right, then she knows we're here. They both do."

"So you've never seen this lady? And who is they?"

"One second, you three. Just give me one second!" A voice called from inside.

"Told you." Willa replied smugly.

The door swung open, and a tall brownskinned woman with black hair appeared in the doorway. Her hut smelled like a thousand different incenses at once. She wore a shimmering orange dress that looked like it was made out of liquid copper. The inside of the hut had an orange tinge too, but it was fun, as if it was entirely lit up by candles.  
She smiled for half a second before her gazed turned to shock.

"Oh Gods, it's one of you isn't it?"


	16. Little Messages

"What's one of us?" Roman asked as she stood aside and motioned them in.  
The walls were made of stone on the inside, and so was the floor. Roman noticed the lady was barefoot and wondered if the cold bothered her. They appeared to be in a kitchen-like area, and everything did seem to be lit by candlelight. Some candles floated at the center of the ceiling, like chandeliers. The entrance to the rest of the house was not blocked by a door but a dark red cloth hanging down. Everything else was dark.

The woman peeked out there for a moment before closing it. She turned around to us and looked directly at Caitlyn.

"Put her down." She demanded.  
Roman looked stunned. "Where?"

"At the table, right there she pointed." Over in the corner, Roman turned and saw nothing. Still he walked over and suddenly a damp brown couch appeared out of nowhere, and he was slowly laying Caitlyn down.

"Wait hold up, this wasn't right here a second ago. Why do my hands feel so heavy?"

"It's her herbs and chemicals. "Willa answered. "You're intoxicated."

"Are you serious?" He said, staring at his hand. "We _just_ walked in here!"

"Don't mind him." Willa said, grabbing the woman's attention. "We came for your help."

"Yes, I know. I want to know what your futures are too."

"Excuse me?" said Roman, listening in. "That's what we came to you for."

"You came for the Oracle. I am not the Oracle, my name is Antearia."

"Is that a name the Greek gods bestowed upon you or is it your actual-"

"Yes, it's my real name." She replied politely, ignoring Roman's confused look.

"That's actually really similar to my name. Well, the name Zeus gave me after I became a goddess."

Antearia smiled. "They stole it from me. I was there when you were reborn."

So if you're not the Oracle," Roman interrupted. "Where can we find her?"

His impatience didn't seem to bother her.

"She'll be here in a moment. I'll be back in a second." Antearia walked through the cloth and Roman almost thought she disappeared into the wall. He turned to Willa, confused.

"I thought you and your brother said only one mortal lived on Olympus? She's mortal, I can smell her blood."

"That's true. There should only be one mortal on Olympus, the possessor of the Oracle."

"Actually, there's two mortals on Olympus." Antearia reemerged holding a child about two years old. "This is my son, Tyran."  
The child looked like he had just woken up from a long nap and was eyeing us warily.

"He's better than most mortal babies. He never cries." Antearia kissed her son on his cheeks a few times before putting him in a high chair, which appeared out of nowhere.

"Okay. She's ready." Antearia bowed her head and began to chant quietly. All of the candles in the house went off at once, but instead of it getting completely dark, the smoke from the candles let off a light and they all began to hover around Antearia.

"What's happening?!" Caitlyn screamed. They'd forgotten she'd been asleep for most of the trip.

"It's okay Caitlyn, she's the-"

Caitlyn ran past Antearia, who had begun to float- and snatched up Tyran, her son.

"Why aren't you guys saving the baby?!" Caitlyn called out, backing away from Antearia.

Antearia's head snapped upward and she glared at them, Eyes, nose, and mouth, spewing smoke.

" _Put my son down!"_ Antearia's voice mixed with something else.

" _No Antearia._ " She started talking to herself. " _That girl has great destinies. Your child is in no danger._ "

"Delphi?" Willa asked, pulling Caitlyn back and keeping her eyes trained on Antearia.

Antearia smiled. " _That's not my name, but speak_."

"We want to know if Zeus will kill Roman. Are you able to tell us that?" Willa looked uncomfortable speaking to Antearia's floating body. The Oracle/Antearia grew completely silent, and fixated their gaze on Roman. Her/Their face twisted into an ugly snarl, and she stretched out her right arm, sending the wisps of smoke after him. Willa ran to shield him but it was too late, they went inside his mouth and nose, causing him to cough and sneeze.

"What was that for?" Willa shouted.  
"What did you do to him?!"

" _Yes. He will die by Zeus' hand."_

Roman stopped coughing and looked up, in shock. Willa had the same expression on her face, but the Oracle was done with them.

" _Would you like to know your futures little one?_ " The Oracle turned to Caitlyn and pointed, causing Caitlyn's eyes to glow and spew smoke. She almost dropped Taryn but Roman leaped forward to catch him.

" _Three paths... Fate has toyed with you plenty, haven't they?_

Willa ran to her side but the Oracle froze her in place.

 _"Wait your turn."_ She looked back over to Caitlyn, who had begun to shake.  
" _Stay a vampire."_ She hissed. " _Become a maiden. But you should see your father before you make that choice. Now you,"_ Caitlyn collapsed and Willa's eyes started glowing and spewing smoke.

" _You should go see your mother. You should go see your mother. You should go see your mother._ " Roman watched as the Oracle started convulsing, her hold on Antearia's body weakening. Roman ran over to Caitlyn, sat her upright and put Tyran in her lap.

He grabbed Willa and shook her slightly, trying to get a response.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked the Oracle. "What's going on?"  
" _Zeus' interference. He doesn't want her-her to kn-know. He-he doesn't want you to know. A-Apollo, Please!"_  
The Oracle dropped to her knees groaned in pain, sounding more like Antearia. Willa, suddenly normal again, reached out to Caitlyn and Tyran.

" _Anteria, you need to run."_ The Oracle urged.  
"Roman's not going to hurt me!" Willa shouted.  
Oracle stared at them for a few seconds, mouthing words but not making a sound until finally she let out a faint whisper.

" _Zeus will."_

She collapsed completely and so did the candles around her. After a few moments of silence, all of the candles suddenly relit themselves, even the ones that had fallen over.

"Did she give you visions?" Willa asked Roman.

He put his hand up to his chest to feel his heartbeat.

Yes she did.


End file.
